All I Ever Wanted Was You
by Tom Bone
Summary: Dimitri Skellington, like his father, longs for something new. He runs away to the real world and discovers love in an extraordinary girl. Rated T for cursing and little blood.
1. Wishes

**Chapter I**

"**Wishes"**

**I never wanted to be the Pumpkin King. My dad says it's in my blood. Jack Skellington's my father's name; perhaps you've heard of him. He's famous for scaring people out of their wits. Halloween…Pumpkin King…chills…fright… They all circle around me like some sort of Ferris wheel.**

"**You are going to be the most frightening Pumpkin King the mortal world has ever known!" Dad would tell me. "DIMITRI! THE PUMPKIN KING!" **

"**Don't pressure the boy, Jack," my Mom would tell him calmly. "Dimitri is only fourteen years old."**

"**Sally, the boy needs to know basics when he's young so he can be the best scarcer he can be."**

**I would go up to the top of Spiral Hill and carve my name sadly in the dirt. Dimitri Skellington; the Pumpkin King.**

"**This needs to stop." I said one night to Zero, who I brought with me. "Dad should stop trying to make me a…a…a clone of him." I began to walk to the edge of the hill and it unraveled. I sighed "I'm sick of scaring; the terror, the fright. I'm tired of being something that goes bump in the night." I walked into the nearby forest with a heavy heart and tears in my soul. All I wanted to be was a normal kid; to hang out with the other normal kids in Halloweentown. Everyone said I looked just like my dad. **

"**Why can't I be normal?" I asked Zero. "Why did I have to be the heir to the throne?"**

**All the kids in Halloweentown looked up to me. **

"**Normal…" I repeated as I opened a Pumpkin Door in a tree and went through in awe. **


	2. A Human Girl

**Chapter II**

"**A Human Girl"**

**The door I walked out of was identical to the one I walked through though. there were other trees with other shaped doors about them. My father told me about this place.**

"**The Hinterlands," he told me, "is a mysterious land where the holidays merge. I made a horrible mistake opening one of the doors…" he paused for a long time here. He wouldn't tell me why. When I asked mom she told me that he was "recollecting his thoughts."**

**So I passed the trees, though I was tempted to open one of the doors.**

**I kept on prowling through the forest. Zero had deserted me when I spied the Pumpkin Door; Zero knew the same thing my dad knew. The more I wandered through the strange wood, the more different it got. I eventually came to a large mountain of soil, too large to see the top, in fact. There was a large stone door shaped like a coffin in front of me. Not thinking, I opened the door and walked through to find myself covered in dirt and leaves in the next moment following. I coughed loudly as I spit the debris out of my mouth and I sat up. I looked at the terrain surrounding me and it was still forest, but this time, the trees had leaves and the land was bent into the shape of a bowl. I was in a sump.**

**I began to stroll up the side of the sump and I heard people laughing. They sounded like children for it was more of a giggle. What prevented me from going beyond the sump was a barbed fence. Not caring what prevented me, I jumped on top of the fence and from there I jumped into a tree. My shoe got caught on the barbs for a second but I was able to pull it loose. I looked past the branches and saw a huge backyard. I saw the house and it was like a mansion it was gigantic. The swimming pool was enormous as well. I began to hear then giggling again.**

**I crawled on the rickety limbs of the trees and looked down and saw girls. There were three and two out of the three had white skin. The other one looked like she was from the Caribbean. One of the two white girls had red hair and the other one had blonde hair with little red freckles. They all looked the same age as me and I looked at myself and realized that they had skin and I didn't.**

"**Humans…" I whispered. **

**In that tree, I was at least thirty feet up. The thick underbrush kept me hidden as I listened to the talk about some boy named Derek and how cute he was in math class that day for forty-five minutes. They could've looked right at me but they wouldn't have seen me. I knew my parents were probably getting worried but I just had to stay for a reason unclear to even myself at the time. **

**As the sun set along the horizon everyone left except the blonde girl who sat in a lawn chair and opened a book with a green cover. I couldn't make out the title, but she seemed engrossed in it. I crawled among the tree branches almost silently so I could get a closer look. At one point, I was directly above her. I was so close; I was able to make out the title of the book: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. She could've turned around and our noses would've touched. I was surprised she didn't even see my shadow. I gathered up the courage to say "hi", but I heard a woman's voice call her.**

"**Kate!" she yelled from the huge house. "Come here!"**

"**Parents…" the girl named Kate groaned as she shut the book. "Why do they always have to tell you what to do?"**

**I smiled as she walked away. I felt the same way about my dad. Being the Pumpkin King was the last thing on my mind. I just wanted to do my own thing.**

**Once I was sure that the cost was clear, I jumped down from the low branch and crept across the backyard and listened through an open window. My dad said for me to never venture beyond Halloweentown, but I had to follow this girl…**

"**What do you mean I can't go the party!" Kate screamed at the woman who was apparently her mother.**

"**I'm sorry, Kate, there's just too much to do around here before we move!"**

"**Shut up!" I heard her storm up a staircase and slam a door hard at the top.**

"**Harsh…" I whispered. **

**I looked up and saw a window where Kate's room had to be. I was able to ascend the house up to where the window was and I peaked inside. The girl was crying. The wallpaper was purple and there were posters from well-known American TV shows up everywhere.**

"**She knows I've been waiting to go to this party for months…" she sobbed into her pillow. "Parents…just…don't understand…"**

**I wished there was someway I could help her, but I thought she may think I was some sort of monster instead of a kindhearted soul, so I stayed hidden.**

**She lifted her head up and looked at the wall with tears. "I'm going."**

**She took the sheets off her bed and she left her room and came back a minute later with a huge pile of sheets. Kate started tying them together.**

"**A rope…" I whispered. "Why would she sneak out using the rope…?" I pondered and figured out the answer. "…Unless she wanted to go out the window!" **

**I scampered upwards and perched myself on the canopy of the window. The second I became situated, I saw the rope fly out the window from below me and Kate began to climb down. God had placed a guardian angel over me because she never decided to look up and spot me. She stopped only for a second or two but continued on. After she got down, she hopped the fence to get into the front yard and ran off. **

**This was my first peek of the front yard, and I discovered that the whole mansion was surrounded by nothing but forest. I saw Kate in the distance and began to follow. She ran along a wide dirt path and I hid behind a tree whenever I thought she was going to turn around and look. Her bright yellow shirt stood out easily in all the brown and green, so it wasn't easy to lose her. I don't know what urged me to keep following this, to me, enigmatic girl but it was like I had to…**


	3. So We Meet

**Chapter III**

"**So We Meet"**

**After about fifteen minutes, the forest path ended and a bustling town square was revealed. It was getting late and right before it got dark, she stole away into a flashy nightclub. I almost stepped out of the forest, but remembered that I wasn't "one of them" so I had to wait until dark, which came in seven minutes. The bustling had calmed down a little and I dashed across the square and peeked inside the window. **

**I saw Kate having some sort of alcoholic substance at the bar part with two girls and one boy. Something didn't add up; Kate looked the same age as me, yet, in Halloweentown, people weren't allowed to drink until they were twenty. Wasn't it the same here? I watched for a half hour as the same thing went on and soon enough, Kate wandered out of the club, stumbling around like a drunken asshole.**

**I spoke to her for the first time. "Kate, are you feeling alright?"**

**She only mumbled something. I don't even know if she knew I was there. **

**Kate began dizzily walking down the street as if she was about to fall to pieces, moaning as she did. I knew I had to do something when she turned the corner. This time, I actually had a reason to follow her: I had to make sure she was alright. I followed her around the town square near the forest as she wandered aimlessly, not knowing where she was. It, by God, was the strangest thing I have ever seen. One time, she stopped in the middle of a street as she stared at a car coming straight at her. I had to do something; I didn't care if I was revealed to this world. **

**The car was coming on fast and I dived to push Kate out of the way. We rolled on to the sidewalk and I discovered she had passed out. The car stopped short and the man driving looked out his window to see what was going on but saw nothing; I had already hoisted Kate up on my shoulders and whisked silently away into the forest.**

"**You're a real load of trouble, you know that?" I whispered to the unconscious girl.**

**It took awhile, but I eventually found Kate's house in the darkness of the wooded area. The rope of sheets was still there and I climbed up with her on my shoulder and threw her into her own bed. No one seemed to even notice she left. I stayed with her by her bedside for a whole hour—it was the least I could do—and then she began to stir.**

"**Huh?" she mumbled.**

**It took me a second to realize she was awake, and I turned and stared her in the face.**

"**Who are you?" she said as she sat up, one hand on her head.**

**Most people, I thought, would be scared of something like me. But Kate only seemed confused. "Answer me." She commanded.**

**All I did was move slowly toward the window as she stared at me and jumped out. I hopped the fence into the sump. I dug amongst the debris to find the coffin door that led me here and I finally found it. I was in the Hinterlands once again and I began running so fast that I don't think I was even touching the ground. Soon, I came upon the Tree Circle with the doors. Kate may have been fortunate enough to not face her own, but I was sure that my parents knew I was gone and not on Spiral Hill and they may be worried sick about me.**

**I opened the Pumpkin Door and dashed to Halloweentown as fast as I could and I saw my house. There were no lights on and I thought my parents may have been sleeping. Boy was I wrong. I opened the door quietly and my dad was staring me in the face.**

"**Going somewhere, Dimitri?" Dad asked me with a scornful frown. Mom stood behind him with a worried face. "Where the hell were you?" he yelled. "You said you were going to be at Spiral Hill! And when I go there, YOU'RE NOT THERE!"**

"**Jack, please," Mom tried to calm him.**

**Dad sighed. "Just go to your room, Dimitri, we'll discuss this in the morning…"**

**I listened from my room as I heard Mom and Dad talking downstairs. **

"**Sally," Dad said. "Dimitri can't go running off like this; he has too much to learn about being Pumpkin King."**

"**Would you shut up about being Pumpkin King for just one goddamn second, Jack!" I've never heard her say anything like that.**

**Dad shut up right there. He was usually the one to tell everyone what to do, but he knew that mom had logic as well. **

"**Dimitri's only a boy! Let him do the things boys love! Remember, I used to sneak out from my father's house all the time; he never panelized me too hard for it."**

"**He must've got it from you." Dad chuckled.**

**Mom laughed a little too. "Jack, just please layoff a tiny bit. Our son has plenty of time to have responsibilities; No one has a long time to be a kid."**

"**Fine," Dad agreed. "But we have to make sure he doesn't sneak out anymore…" He must've smiled now. "…and get him to stop listening to other peoples' conversations." I dashed away from the door and plopped into bed. I fell asleep in less than five minutes. **


	4. Face to Face

**Chapter IV**

"**Face to Face"**

**I woke up thinking about her. "Kate…" I whispered. I wondered if she was okay. It's not every day you meet a skeleton from a totally different world. I tiptoed down the cobweb infested stairs and I could hear my parents still sleeping (Dad snores loud…really loud…). Zero didn't even wake up as I snuck past him. I was almost home free to Spiral Hill when I felt something pull my leg.**

"**Where ya going?" a little voice asked me.**

**I looked down and saw three kids, Wing Demon, Corpse Kid, and Mummy Boy, all of their second generation.**

"**Not now, guys," I told them. "I have to go visit a…friend of mine."**

"**Can we come?" Corpse Kid asked.**

"**No!" I snapped at them. "Just don't tell my Mom and Dad."**

"**Okay!" They all ran off to go play dodgehead.**

**I walked to the forest so no one would suspect that I was in a hurry and once I was a good distance into the mysterious wooded area, I ran. I soon spied the Pumpkin Door ahead of me. I dashed toward it and pulled it open with all my might. I jumped through it and ran past the Tree Circle, ignoring the mesmerizing patterns. I came upon the mountain of soil and before I opened the coffin door, I made sure my mouth was shut. I sprinted across the sump and jumped the barbed fence with ease. I ran to the house and I scurried up the side where Kate's room was. Everything was so confusing in the human world; their sky was a pretty blue color instead of a blackish-yellow and their sun didn't even have the face of a jack-o-lantern.**

**I peaked inside her window and Kate sat on her bed with a book; she was writing something in it and then she suddenly put it down and I ducked below the windowsill so she wouldn't spot me.**

**She sighed. "Nature calls…" she yawned. **

**I winced. I heard her step out of the room and close the door behind her. I slipped inside and overturned the book to see what she was writing. It could've been about last night. I just wanted to see what she thought of me. I looked at the book and couldn't have been more surprised.**

**It was a picture of me from her point of view. It was of when I first looked into her beautiful blue eyes. She drew it all from memory…**

"**Wow…" I whispered. "It's beautiful…" It looked exactly like me.**

"**Do you like it?" I heard Kate's voice say right behind me.**

**I turned around and she just got back into the room and she was shutting the door.**

"**I was wondering when you'd come back."**

**I didn't know what to say. "Uh…"**

"**You were there last night. I was at the party…and than nothing. And then you were in my room. Who are you?"**

"**Dimitri…" I managed to choke out.**

"'**Dimitri' who?"**

**I gulped. "Dimitri Skellington."**

**She gave me a look.**

**I had to give up the ghost—no pun intended. "I'm sorry," I pleaded. "Please forgive me; I came to this world and heard that conversation with your mother and I followed you to that club…you got drunk and I brought you back here." I looked up at her. "I understand if you want to call the police…I shouldn't have meddled…"**

"**Wait," she closed her eyes and held her head. "Another world?"**

**I grinned sheepishly to show all my candy corn shaped teeth. "Sorry. I come from Halloweentown."**

**She was baffled. I'm not sure if she noticed I was dead. **

**She gasped. "I know who you are…"**

"**Huh?" I had never met her before—ever.**

"**Even though I was only one, I'd never forgotten this; a skeleton that looked just like you came into my house dressed as Santa Claus and left horrible things in my house…but later Santa took it all away."**

"**That wasn't me;" I assured her. Then I tried to change the subject. "This drawing is amazing!"**

"**Thank you," she said blushing. "After you left, I couldn't stop thinking about whom you were and where you came from…"**

**I told her my whole story, but I don't think she believed me. The only thing I didn't tell her was that I was heir to being the Pumpkin King. She probably wouldn't know what I meant.**

"**I want to be your friend." I told her embarrassedly after the story. I didn't know how else to tell her.**

"**Excuse me?" she asked in disbelief.**

"**I want to be your friend." I repeated. "You seem like an amazing girl and I just want to get to know you better."**

**She raised her eyebrow.**

"**Nonono!" I said quickly, not wanting her to take it the wrong way. "My father dislikes humans." I lied. "And I want to prove to him that there's nothing wrong with you."**

**She nodded.**

"**And what better way to show him that he's wrong then by befriending one?"**

"**You're lying." Kate said with a grin.**

"**I'm s—"**

"**I'll be your friend." **

**I perked up. "Really! That's great!" I tried not to seem too happy. "I mean…cool! Thanks."**

**She shook my hand. "Meet me in the sump tomorrow."**

**I grinned. "I'll be there." **


	5. Our First Day

**Chapter V**

"**Our First Day"**

**I went back to Halloweentown soon after so my parents wouldn't think I was gone. I went to the small chain of stores next to the witches shop and entered the newest one called "Oogie's Hut of Bargains". I had to get something nice for Kate. **

"**Hi, Uncle Oogie!" I said as I entered the door. **

"**Well, well, well! What have we here? Dimitri Skellington, huh? What will ya need?"**

**It was hard to believe that Oogie Boogie and my father were mortal enemies…he seemed so nice now. He came to my birthday parties every year. My parents seemed to forgive him of what he had done to them. I called him Uncle Oogie because we were close.**

"**I'll need some flowers, Uncle Oogie!" I told him with a grin.**

"**You're getting a bit old to call me that, ya think, Dim'?"**

**I nodded.**

"**Shock, get the flowers!" Oogie called to the curtain behind the shelf he stood in back of.**

"**Deadly Nightshade?" Shock called back. "…Or Witch Hazel?"**

**Oogie looked at me.**

"**A rose…please…" **

**He raised a burlap eyebrow.**

"**ROSE!" he bellowed to Shock in the back.**

**I remember that I used to have a crush on Shock when I was younger. Though when I looked in the photo album, she was quite ugly. But she had matured into an attractive young woman since her younger days.**

**Shock appeared from behind the curtain and gave me a blue rose. It was the most beautiful I had ever seen.**

"**Are you saving it for that special some one?" Shock asked me, exited to know. **

**If I had skin, I would've bushed. "You could say that…" I hinted as I handed her the money and walk out of the store. **

"**I'll tell Lock and Barrel you said 'hi'?"**

"**Yup," I called back as I looked at the pretty potted plant.**

**My life was that plant for the rest of the day. I hid it from mom and dad so they wouldn't ask why I got it. I put it on the dresser next to the window that got the most sun. I kept checking on it throughout the day to see if it was still safe—or that Zero didn't knock it down—but it was still the way I left it.**

**The next day, I was supposed to help some other citizens with community service of something. This was my perfect chance to sneak away to that world when the others were putting up cobwebs in the Town Hall. I opened the stone door and I heard a scream—Kate must've not known I would come out of the ground.**

"**There you are!" she said when she caught her breath.**

"**I'm sorry…" I said when I noticed I had frightened her. I showed her the flower. "I got this for you…"**

**She gasped. "Dimitri…I don't know what to say." **

**I stood up and grinned. I had never really talked to a girl before—except Shock, but we were good friends. This girl was different. "You can start by taking the flower." I said, kidding.**

**She took it from me and blushed. "Thank you…"**

**We stood in silence for a few seconds…everything had hushed. **

"**What do you want to do?" Kate asked me. **

"**We can't go into town…not looking like this, at least." I pointed to my face. **

"**We can go to my house. My parents already left for work."**

"**Don't you have to go to school?" I asked. **

"**It's Saturday," she explained. Kate opened a gate from the sump that led to her backyard. **

**We, of course went in through the back door and Kate plopped down on the couch in the living room. I just sat on the very edge of a cushion. I didn't want to just lounge around and almost complete stranger's house. **

**I felt uncomfortable sitting in silence so…there went nothing. "Do you have a job?"**

"**Yeah, I work part-time at the 7-11 in town."**

"**Oh…"**

"**I'm a cashier. Y'know, I'll tell you about when I was up there and…"**

**While she talked I partly listened but I was thinking about the fact that I should bring her to my world…she would be so amazed and frightened, possibly. And I wouldn't be scared at all and she would wonder how I was so strong.**

"**Oh—" she said loudly.**

**I awaked from my daydream.**

"**I drew some more pictures of you."**

**I began to grow eager. "Really?"**

"**Yeah!" she said excitedly. "Wait here…"**

**She dashed up the stairs to get the book from yesterday. I stood up and walked around the house a bit. Aside from the fact that she lived in a mansion, Kate looked positively wealthy. There were some artifacts in cases in some corridors I glanced down. They even had a big-screen television in the living room. She came back as soon as I sat back down.**

"**Check these out!" she exclaimed as she ran over to me and sat right next to me. She showed me pictures for a little over an hour and I was amazed at how well she drew them from memory. She had an idea that I should put up the hood on my sweatshirt and that we'd go to town. We did that and it no one suspected a thing. **

**I saw a photo booth and I remembered that in some cartoons that a boy and a girl would go in there and take a bunch of pictures. From what I could gather, it seemed to improve their relationship as friends. **

"**Wanna take a few pictures?" I asked trying not to sound excited about it.**

**She grinned at me cutely. "Sure…" The girl took my hand and we rushed in there. She made sure I had my hood down. We made wacky faces for the first three, and then we smiled normally for the next two. In the last one, she hugged me and my heart began pounding. She made us each a copy of the pictures and said that she'd better get home because her parents would be home soon and she dashed off towards her house while I went back to Halloweentown. **

**Everyone was still working in the Town Hall and no one seemed to notice my absence. I took the picture of Kate hugging me out of my pocket. Kate's blue eyes were gleaming and I was smiling widely, though I didn't know it at the time. My heart began pounding again and my stomach felt strange. I never felt this way about Shock; it didn't even compare. Could it be that I was really in love…?**


	6. Advice

**Chapter VI**

"**Advice"**

**I couldn't stop thinking about her that night. I lay in my bed and stared up at the ceiling.**

"**What is this?" I whispered to myself.**

**Zero was sleeping next to my bed and was snoring rather loudly, distracting me from my thoughts. At least I wasn't some idiot stalker who followed her everywhere—we were friends. I finally fell asleep thinking about her**

**The next day, I went down to Oogie's Hut of Bargains; I had to talk to Shock. She was at the register with a magazine when I came in.**

**She looked up when she heard my loud footsteps and grinned when she saw me. "Hey, Dimitri." She looked back down at the magazine.**

"**Can I ask you something, Shock?" I asked, twittering my fingers.**

"**Shoot."**

"**What do girls like?"**

**She looked up at me, stunned. "What?"**

"**What do girls like?" I repeated loudly.**

**She became suspicious. "Why?"**

**I felt that she wasn't comfortable answering the question so I turned around and began to leave, but she jumped behind me and held me back.**

"**Why?" she said laughing.**

"**Let go!" I yelled at her.**

**She began giggling. "Not until you tell me!"**

"**Okay!"**

**She let go.**

"**I…may be…"**

"**Go on." She pressed me**

"**I think I'm in love."**

**She gaped at me for a good five seconds and grinned.**

"**Who's the lucky lady?" she asked me.**

**I took the picture out of my sweatshirt pocket and handed it over. "This would be her."**

"**She's pretty nice looking." Shock said. "She's definitely not from Halloweentown, that's for sure." Silence… "Where's she from?"**

"**Can you keep a secret Shock?"**

**She crossed her arms. **

"**I've been sneaking out to Earth for the past few days."**

**She smiled. **

"**Please, Shock, don't tell!" I begged to her. **

"**I won't." she said. **

**I let out a sigh of relief. **

"**But that's only because I've known you for so long."**

"**Thank you so much!" I hugged her as tight as I could.**

**When I let go, she finally spoke. "Girls like sensitivity."**

**I smiled.**

"**They like it when you tell them how pretty they are."**

"**Really?"**

"**I like it when Lock tells me." She explained.**

"**Thank you," I hugged her again and ran out.**

**I went to Earth and found myself in Kate's backyard yet again. I knew I couldn't be gone for too long—Halloween was only a week away. I went up to her room and she was still drawing. I tapped on the window and she let me in when she saw me. **

"**Hi, Dimitri." She said with a big smile.**

"**Hello…" I mumbled nervously. It was different now. I had barely even known the girl and I was in love with her.**

"**You okay?" **

"**Oh, I'm fine…"**

**She perked up. "Guess what!"**

"**What?" I asked, wanting to know; she had sparked my curiosity yet again.**

"**There's Halloween dance at my school."**

"**That's nice…" I said disappointedly. I'd be too busy helping out in Halloweentown to get to go. "Were you going to ask me to go with you?"**

"**Nope," she said casually, oblivious to the fact that I cared for her so. "I'm going with the hottest guy in school!" she sighed dreamily.**

"**What's his name?" I asked.**

"**Rob…" she said with a large grin and a vague look.**

**I nodded. "Uh-huh…I was going to ask you if you would come to Halloweentown with me instead."**

"**Maybe some other time, Dimitri." She told me sorrowfully. "How 'bout next Saturday?"**

"**Alright…" I said sadly. "I can come to the dance…if you want me to."**

**She grinned again. "Alright. You'll have a blast." **


	7. The Dance

**Chapter VII**

"**The Dance"**

"**What was I thinking!" I told Zero in my room later that day. "I can't go to a dance on Halloween, of all days!"**

**Zero just licked my feet. I was thankful he couldn't talk—he would have told mom and dad everything by now. I had to tell my secret to someone that would listen. I couldn't tell Shock everything because she would either tall Oogie, Lock, or Barrel. **

**I went back the next day and Kate asked me if I had any experience with music. I told her I used to DJ at the dances at my school—doubting that they were the same as hers. Kate said that she'd sign me up to be a DJ.**

"**Should I wear a Halloween costume?" I asked her.**

"**Use your head, Dimitri!" she giggled as she knocked softly on my skull. "Of course you should, silly!"**

"**Right…" I said laughing.**

"**What are you going as?"**

"**It's a surprise." I said, smirking.**

"**Come on! Tell me!"**

"**Nope!"**

**I went home, smiling the whole way. I was planning on using my Pumpkin King costume. My dad and I were going to do a double fire dance on Halloween night at 11:00. I hope that dad would just believe that I was going to be "in my room practicing the dance". Then, before I knew it, Halloween night had arrived. I told Kate I wouldn't be there for the rest of the week because I've been helping the town prepare for the most frightening Halloween the world has ever seen. She told me that the dance started at 7 and ended at 10—which was perfect for me. I got out my suit that I only wore to formal occasions—dad wore his all the time; it was black with a bat bowtie. After I told mom and dad my lie—which, don't get me wrong, was not my favorite thing doing. I hated lying to my parents, but I made a commitment. I took the suit and stuffed the Pumpkin King costume in my backpack, made sure my door was locked, and I lowered myself out the window with a rope. **

**I ran to Kate's and climbed into her room. Kate was dressed in a beautiful blue gown her blonde hair up in a bun.**

"**What are you supposed to be?"**

"**Cinderella, duh!"**

**I recognized it. "Rob going as Prince Charming?"**

"**Bingo!" she said with a wink. "Now climb back down and knock on my front door."**

"**Why?"**

"**So it looks normal!"**

"**But your parents will see me." I said, confused. "They'll get all scared!"**

"**Not on Halloween." **

**I caught her drift and did as she was told. I knocked on her front door and both her parents answered it. She definitely got her blonde hair from her tall father and her looks from her mother.**

"**Is Kate home?" I asked her casually.**

"**Are you Rob?" her father asked gruffly. **

"**I'm Dimitri." I replied softly. Then I spoke up. "Dimitri Skellington."**

"**So you're the new boy in school." Kate's mom said.**

**I was confused.**

"**So how do you like our town?" her father asked me.**

**I caught on. "Fine, thank you."**

**Kate came down the stairs behind them. "There you are, Dimitri." She kissed her parents goodbye and walked out with me. "Love ya!"**

**We walked past the forest and into town where night was falling slowly. We walked up the driveway of the first house on the left on Elm's Street. **

**Kate knocked up on a door and in a few second a guy with black hair and blue eyes (he was about our age) opened the door and was dressed like Prince Charming.**

"**Hi, Kate." The boy said with a grin.**

**Kate giggled.**

**The boy turned to me. "Who's this?"**

"**Oh, that's Dimitri! He's a friend of mine from out of town. Dimitri, this is Rob."**

**Rob held out his hand for me to shake it and I did so. He seemed nice enough—and I wanted Kate to be with someone kind and considerate. I guess this guy would work. "Dimitri Skellington." I told him with a grin.**

**We all walked to the dance together, me being silent the whole way. I was admiring my surroundings; this world was so different. My father told me never to explore outside Halloweentown…now I was wondering that how could worlds outside Halloweentown, like this one, could be bad? The school's gymnasium was all decorated for Halloween. I can't say they did a bad job; it was just that they were amateurs compared to me and everyone back home. **

"**Do your thing!" Kate told me with good spirits as I stepped on stage and set up a mixing board the school provided me. Three boys—each a year older than me walked up to me. Their costumes were a vampire, a wolf man, and a mummy **

"**Who are you?" the vampire asked me. "You don't go to our school."**

"**No, I don't." I replied. "I'm here with a friend."**

"**I asked 'who are you', punk." **

**I sighed. "Dimitri Skellington. Pleasure."**

"**We don't take kindly to newcomers." The wolf man said.**

**I decided to use a comeback. I, myself, was bullied at school so I always had something ready. "And I don't take kindly to fakers. I've seen better vampires, wolf men, and mummies where I come from." And that was the truth.**

**They all began yelling nasty comments at me and I remembered that I had to practice my scaring. I stood up and stretched my mouth down and bared my teeth and roared loudly. After I was done, they all stared at me, their faces white and pupils small. They ran away.**

**The night went on and I DJ'ed full time. The kids in the poorly made Halloween costumes stayed away from me. It was about 9:45 when I saw Kate run out the gymnasium door with her hands over her face. **

"**Oh…dear." I whispered.**

**I asked someone to take over for me and I ran out after her. I saw Kate sobbing against the school's brick wall. "Kate?" I whispered.**

"**Oh, Dimitri," she sobbed. **

"**What's wrong?"**

**Kate told me the whole story: Rob had began flirting with other girls at the dance and when Kate told him to stop, he told her to buzz off and she had no choice but to cry and run.**

"**I'm so sorry, Kate." I said as I put my hand on her shoulder she took it and stared into my eye sockets as she wiped off tears with her other hand.**

"**Let's go, Dimitri."**

"**Go? Go where?"**

"**Halloweentown; I wanna see it."**

**I grinned. "Okay, let's go!" **


	8. Life is Good

**Chapter VIII**

"**Life is Good"**

**We traveled back to the sump.**

"**This is how you got here?" she asked.**

"**Yep." I answered as I cleared away the leaves from the stone coffin-like door. "After you, my lady." I announced I pried it open.**

**She giggled and went in. "Where are we?" she asked as we emerged in the now dark forest on the other side.**

"**The Hinterlands." I said. I felt strong that I knew the way and she wasn't knowledgeable of it. "Come on, now."**

**We staggered around in the darkness until we finally walked into the tree circle. Kate stood in the middle gaping in awe at the patterns on the trees as I walked over to the tree with the Pumpkin on it. She turned to look. **

"**What's that?"**

**I grinned and put on a scary face in the spirit of Halloween. "You've probably wondered where holidays come from; if you haven't, I'd say it's time you've begun…" **

**I opened the door and an eerie silence fell upon the tree circle. Then, with the force of a great typhoon, the tree sucked us in. Usually, I could just climb through and keep walking, but the tree seemed to grow with more power because of the day. Kate was laughing the whole time we journeyed at the high speed through my land.**

**The tree belched us out in the middle of Halloweentown Square. No one was there because they were probably in their homes preparing. **

"**Now," I said dusting myself off and trying to sound professional. "It's only a few minutes until the performance and—" I looked around and spotted a dark alley and pointed to it. "You go in there so no one will see you and I'll put on the best show you'll ever see!"**

**Her eyes lit up with excitement as she nodded and did as I told her.**

**I climbed back up to my room and unlocked the door. I ran downstairs where my mother and father were talking downstairs. My dad was standing up and doing some crazy dance—he was showing the dance to my mom.**

"**And then," he told her excitedly. "We'll all go 'BLARRRRRRRRGH!'!" **

**My mom clapped for my dad's performance.**

"**It's gonna be even better to see it in real life." I said as I descended down the rest of stairs.**

"**You bet, son!" dad said. "Did you practice well? You've been up there for hours."**

"**That long, already?" I lied as I took a gander at the clock. **

"**Go get in your costume, Dimitri." Mom said. "I'll go out to the square and help set up the last minute decorations."**

**Before we knew it, Mr. Hyde and the Mayor tethered my father and me to the posts that read "Halloweentown" on it and they mounted us on our horses made of straw. As everyone sang, my father and I came alive off the posts and did a whole new dance—something much different than last year and the years before. This was something that would strike terror in the souls of mortals for years to come!**

**All the townsfolk gathered in the Square while they sang "This is Halloween". A witch gave my father (I was given one by one of the Vampire Brothers) a flaming torch. We both engulfed the torch and went ablaze. My father and I began doing a strange dance, spewing fire and ashes everywhere, unlike normally where it just stayed around our bodies. Kate cheering the loudest; I heard her calling my name over the happy roar of the crowd, but I had to, unfortunately, ignore it—I couldn't slip up. All the children in the town smiled; it was like they were watching a circus performer. No one knew what we were going to do; for there was no water in sight to extinguish our fires, for neither of us were making our way to the fountain with the winged serpent on it. For our finale, we both rose up into the air and a huge explosion surrounded us, burning our costume off all together. We floated down from the air softly as the crowd cheered their heads off—for some, it was quite literal! We landed on the winged serpent fountain's back. I looked to the alley and Kate was still watching me with a huge grin. I waved to her with my free hand as I stepped down with my father.**

"**Great Halloween, everybody!" the Mayor announced.**

**I spoke out. "I believe it was our most horrible yet!"**

**Everyone cheered once more. **

**My father began talking and this gave me my chance to sneak away to talk to Kate.**

"**Dimitri, you were wonderful!" she said as she hugged me. **

**My heart jumped. "Thank you." I said sheepishly. **

"**Are we going to go anywhere else?"**

**I was about to say no, but I thought and remembered my favorite place in Halloweentown. "One more place, but I have to tell my dad." I ran up to him and spoke. "Dad, I'm going to be a little late for the Halloween Party."**

"**How come?"**

"**I'm gonna take a rest back home. I'll catch up with you."**

"**Got it."**

**We walked through the almost silent cemetery down the path lined with cobblestone. I could see Spiral Hill about 200 yards away.**

"**What's that?" she said when she saw it.**

"**Spiral Hill." I said with a dreamy, far-off sigh. I always thought of Oogie when I saw it. "It looks like a profile of my friend's head."**

**We soon got to the hill. "The best part's at the top." I explained. I ascended it before her and she came a little bit behind. I got to the crest and I took her hand helped her up the rest. I lifted my hand up and moved it towards the sky. She followed it and when she looked up into the sky, she gasped and her eyes got wide.**

"**Those are the most stars I've ever seen."**

**It was true, I don't think I've even seen that many. All of those millions of stars were smiling down at the skeleton boy and his forbidden love on the crest of a hill on a silent night. I found this more romantic than to my liking, but something deep down in my soul egged me to go further.**

**I put my hand towards her with my palm facing upward. "May I have this dance?" I asked her without thinking.**

**Kate looked down from the heavens towards me. "Of course, Pumpkin King."**

**We slow danced on the crest for what seemed like hours. And she was all I ever wanted.**

**Later on I took Kate back home and before going in the front door, she kissed me on my cheekbone said, what a great time she had and went in. I realized then that life was on my side tonight. And I only hoped it would get better.**


	9. All I Ever Wanted Was You

**Author's Note: some things in the chapter may be a bit confusing, but all will be revealed soon. Thank you.**

**Chapter IX**

"**All I Ever Wanted Was You"**

**I went back to Halloweentown and to the party. But, to me, I felt separate from the "action". I was still thinking about the girl of my dreams. I was surprised that Kate had a good time because just about everything was about me. But, I'm still glad she liked our town of Halloween.**

"**Dimitri?" I heard my mom say.**

**I snapped out of it. "Yes?"**

"**Are you alright?" she seemed concerned.**

"**Yes, I'm fine. Really."**

"**Sally!" my father said, walking over to us. "Oh, Dimitri, are you well rested?"**

**I nodded vaguely. "Uh-huh." **

**After my parents left me and slow danced, Shock strode from the other side of the room up to me.**

"**Cute girlfriend." She said smugly with a grin.**

**The punch I was drinking snorted out of my nose and eye sockets. "You saw Kate?" I asked her in surprise.**

"**Yup." She answered shortly. "I followed you guys until you got out to the graveyard; I couldn't be missed by darling Lock."**

**I decided to ignore the fact that Shock spied on Kate and I. "Did you like her?"**

"**Quite the looker." Shock said as she got some punch for herself. "Kate, is it?"**

"**Uh-huh." I would've asked her something else but I heard Lock's voice.**

"**Shock! What are you doing over there? Come over here! Barrel's gonna show us his whale imitation with the fountain water!"**

**Shock slammed her glass down on the table. "Tell Barrel to get his butt over here!"**

"**No, you come over here, moron!"**

**Shock gave in and went over with a groan.**

**The next day, I was eager to go and see Kate again. So, as per usual, I made up and excuse and slipped away to Earth, undetected. I climbed Kate's room and I knocked on the window. She noticed me quickly and let me in. **

"**Hey, Pumpkin King." She said with a wink. "How was the party?"**

"**Oh, good! Thanks…" I tried to change the subject. "Are your parents home?"**

"**No, they're working." Kate said. "You wanna go into town? I have some things to pick up."**

"**Sure."**

**I shrouded my face in my hood once again. Apparently, the things were "groceries" for we went to someplace that said "supermarket" on the sign. We walked up around the corner and I saw Rob, the boy that Kate was with.**

**He glared at her, and then at me. There was something weird about his eyes. Rob looked flustered and as if he had been through a tornado. I saw him take something shiny out of his pocket.**

"**Rob?" Kate said anxiously, her voice shaking.**

**My heart was pounding like a hammer in a steel mill. It was hard to tell what was going on because everything was one strange blur. I heard the shot of the gun and I closed my eyes thinking "this is it". Everything seemed to be in slow motion. I was expecting to feel a tremendous amount of pain as I hit the ground and my skull smashed into a million pieces. But the moment never came. Instead, I opened my eyes slowly. But I wish I hadn't. I saw Kate lying on the floor next to me, along with some blood. I looked up towards Rob, but he was already running down the sidewalk. People in the town stood looking at awe at the girl who got shot.**

"**No!" I screamed, since it was the only thing I could choke out. I looked at the people around me. "Don't just stand there, help me!" **

**Someone called 9-1-1 and the ambulance came in a matter of minutes. The man in the back of the truck said could come with her and them because I told them I was Kate's friend. I really didn't care, at the moment, whoever saw that I wasn't human; my top concern was Kate's safety. I followed the workers as they took Kate to the nearest hospital and lay her down on the hospital bed. I stayed by her side for hours on end in complete silence and she was unconscious the whole time. After about the fifth hour, I remembered that her parents have no idea what was going on. Hesitantly, I ran back to the house. Luckily, there was a car in the driveway. I pounded on the door loudly and her father opened it.**

"**Hello, Dimitri," he said in a weird tone. "Why are you still wearing that Halloween costume?"**

**I began to cry. "Something horrible has happened to Kate!"**

"**What!" her father roared.**

**Before I knew it, her father was driving the car, her mother in the passenger seat, and I was in the back seat. **

"**So what happened?" her mother asked me.**

**I told her the whole story; how I found Earth, how I befriended Kate, how I took her to Halloweentown that night, what Rob just did—everything.**

**Kate's mother held her head the way Kate did when I met her and told her my legacy. "This is crazy…" she whispered. "Just fucking crazy."**

**We arrived at the hospital and rushed into the room.**

"**This your kid?" a medic in the room said to her parents.**

**They nodded tearfully. **

"**She's awake; but barely. You can go see her. But, I'll warn you, she's in bad shape."**

**We went in and Kate was in the bed, still. "Hi guys…" she whispered quietly.**

"**Are…are you okay?" her mother asked. **

"**Not really…" she said.**

**I went outside while Kate's parents had their moment with her. After about a half hour, they came out and her father put his hand on my shoulder.**

"**Kate wants to see you."**

**I went in and shut the door behind me.**

"**Hi…" Kate whispered.**

"**Thank God, you're alive." I sighed. I kneeled by her bedside.**

"**The doctor said that the bullet's right next to my heart. He says he doesn't know how long I'll be around for."**

**My heart felt like a knife was jabbed into it. "You're going to die!" I asked in disbelief as I felt tears stream down my face. **

"**Uh, huh." She nodded slowly as tears appeared on her face as well. "But I'll die happy knowing that there's a friend that always will care about me no matter where I go." She took my hand slowly and kissed it.**

"**Kate," I whispered, "I want you to know that all I ever wanted was you and I love you so much. You're sweet, and funny, and kind and I'll never forget who you were—scratch that—who you are and you will always have a special place in my heart. You hear me? Always." I put my head down on her bed sheets.**

"**Dimitri," Kate said. "I want you to have my drawing book. You know, the one with the pictures of you in it? Keep it so you'll always remember me." Kate realized I wasn't looking at her. "Dimitri, look at me."**

**I did. "I love you." I managed to gasp out.**

"**I love you, too. The thing is I never noticed it until just now. I wish I could've gotten to know you more, meet your parents. They seem really nice It's too bad these moments have to end so sudde—"**

**She never finished the sentence. **


	10. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**It was if I had nothing left to live for. I have heard tragic tales of people getting "torn apart" from the people they love, but I never thought it would happen to me. If it did, I never even imagined it to happen like this. I hated myself for a long time for not doing something when I had the chance. If I told you how much I cried, you'd faint out of astonishment. I went to the wake to see Kate's body one last time before it got buried. Her parents offered for me to come to the funeral, but I refused, saying it was too much pain. It turned out that Kate's date, Rob, was a little on the "mental" side and had to take a medicine of some sort to keep him from going berserk. Apparently, he didn't take it that day. Why, I never found out, but I will always rue that day for the rest of my undead life. I took the drawing book, like Kate told me, and brought it home. Mom and Dad, found out about it and I had to tell them what I had been doing. Sure, I was grounded for a month, but it was worth not telling lies anymore. I told them everything and my mother hugged me tight and said, "Oh, Dimitri, I'm so sorry". I had the picture of Kate and I framed and I kept it near the window. After about two months of research, I was finally able to locate where Kate was buried. I immediately went to the cemetery and put some deadly nightshade by her grave. It read: "Hear Lies Kate Hope Johansson; a friend to all". And I said the following: "God bless you, Kate, and let this road of tragedy bring you to a road of happiness. May you always know that people love you down of the godforsaken planet on which you stare down on from the heavens". Sometimes, on a very clear night on Spiral Hill, when millions of stars are visible, like on that Halloween night, you can map out a constellation of two figures dancing the way Kate and I did. She was still alive in the stars. Just about every night, I took the long road to Spiral Hill and stared up into the heavens, imagining that the stars were moving, but I knew they never did, and never were going to. The one thing I learned from all this is that not all fairy tales have happy endings. But this one did; Kate was finally at peace.**

**The End**

**Author's Note: I'm sorry that I made everyone sad with this. There will be a sequel, though! "All I Ever Wanted Was A Sequel". Until then, kiddies!**


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